Gabby Douglas
Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas (born 31st December 1995) is an elite artistic gymnast who is a two-time member of the U.S. National Gymnastics Team and has been named to the U.S. team (that won the gold medal in the team finals) for the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In 2010, she moved from Virginia to West Des Moines, Iowa to live with a host family so she could train with Liang Chow. Douglas started gymnastics when she was 6 years old, after her sister Arielle convinced her mother to let her do gymnastics. Gabby went on to earn the 2004 State Championship title in Virginia. 2010 Douglas made her debut on the national scene at the 2010 Nastia Liukin SuperGirl Cup, a televised Level 10 meet held in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Douglas placed fourth all-around. Her first elite meet was the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas placed third on balance beam, 6th on vault and 9th all-around in the junior division. At the 2010 U.S. Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on balance beam, placed fourth all-around and on vault, and tied for eighth on floor exercise. In the 2010 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, Douglas won the uneven bars title, and she won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed fifth all-around. 2011 In the 2011 City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy during March, Douglas won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed second on floor, tied for third on beam, and placed fourth in the all-around and on vault. At the 2011 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, Douglas earned the silver medal on the uneven bars. In St. Paul, Minnesota, at the 2011 National Championships, Douglas tied for third on bars and placed 7th all-around despite having major trouble on Balance Beam. After two selection camps at the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, Douglas was named to the 2011 U.S. World Championships Team, scheduled for October in Tokyo, Japan. In the preliminary round of competition at the 2011 World Championships, Douglas delivered a strong performance on every event, placing fifth (57.6570) all-around. Nonetheless, because teammates Jordyn Wieber (who placed second) and Alexandra Raisman (who placed fourth) notched higher finishes in the all-around, Douglas was ineligible to compete in the all-around final due to the "two athlete per country" rule. Douglas qualified to the uneven bars final with a sixth-place finish (14.866), with skills including a Tkatchev, a Pak salto and a full-twisting double-back dismount. Her skills on beam included a standing full and a tucked double back dismount. The U.S. team finished the preliminary round in first place (234.253), ahead of Russia (231.062), China (230.370) and Romania (227.228). During the women's team final competition, Douglas contributed to the U.S. effort on uneven bars (14.733), where her skills included a Tkatchev and a tucked full-in dismount. The U.S. won the team gold medal (179.411) over second-place Russia (175.329) and third-place China (172.820). She also made the uneven bars finals where she placed 5th after suffering from an error during her routine. 2012 On March 3, Douglas competed exhibition routines for the American Cup. She debuted an Amanar vault and upgraded her routine on the uneven bars. She was an alternate, so her scores didn't count. However, she outscored every gymnast in the competition, and would have won the title had she not been an alternate. Douglas competed with the American team at the Pacific Rim Championships. The team won the gold medal. However, Douglas tweaked her ankle on vault and had to scratch on floor exercise. Floor Music 2011 - "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool Category:National Team Member Category:American gymnast Category:World Gold Medalist Category:Chow's Gymnastics